New York City Officers Charged With Running L.I. Cocaine Ring

By JOSEPH B. TREASTER

Published: May 8, 1992

Five New York City police officers and a retired colleague were charged yesterday with running a cocaine ring in which drugs from Brooklyn bodegas were ultimately sold in bars and restaurants on Long Island.

At least one of the officers and perhaps others in the group also used cocaine, Deputy Chief Robert J. Beatty said. Two of the officers' wives were accused of helping in the cocaine business and a sixth active-duty officer was charged with conspiring to sell anabolic steroids, which are used by athletes to increase power and speed. Bought Drugs in Bodegas

The arrests, made by Suffolk County police officers, represent the most flagrant charge of drug corruption in the city's police force in six years. For at least a year, the officers, sometimes in uniform and sometimes also working out of their patrol cars, bought drugs in bodegas in the 73d Precinct in the Ocean Hill-Brownsville section and the 94th Precinct in the Greenpoint section and took them back to Long Island, where they lived, selling out of their homes or meeting dealers and distributors throughout Suffolk County, law-enforcement officials in New York City and Long Island said. The authorities said the accused officers referred Long Island drug dealers to their sources in Brooklyn and financed a mid-level dealer in the city who shared profits with them.

"These guys were drug dealers who happened to have police uniforms," said Robert F. Ewald, the chief of the narcotics bureau of the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. "This is not a case of someone who once said 'I know where I can get you some coke.' These were dealers in the business of getting coke."

Chief Beatty, who is the department's senior officer in charge of internal discipline, said it did not appear that the drug dealing extended beyond the group of accused officers, but did not entirely rule it out. He said the investigation was continuing.

All six active officers, who are in their late 20's and early 30's, had received commendations but three had been disciplined on departmental charges. A fourth officer was acquitted in 1990 in the death of a emotionally disturbed man in an arrest. Several of the officers were arrested while they were in uniform late Wednesday night in a New York Police Department administrative office. Investigators said they had been called there under the guise of undergoing a routine, random urine test to detect the presence of drugs. Some of the officers and the wives were arrested at their homes and 36 other men and women, identified as dealers and distributors, were arrested across eastern Long Island. All were charged with conspiracy to possess and sell drugs, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of 8 1/2 to 25 years in prison.

The case, which charges that the police exported cocaine from some of the seamier sections of the city to the suburbs, appeared to be the worst case of departmental drug corruption since 1986 when 11 officers in the 77th Precinct in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn were indicted and accused of stealing drugs and money from drug dealers and then selling the stolen drugs. A year earlier, five officers in the 106th Precinct in South Ozone Park, Queens, were accused of torturing drug suspects with a stun gun, an electric device to subdue violent people.

The entire department was shaken by scandal in the late 1960's when investigators discovered that nearly every precinct was operating a "pad," or ledger book in which officers kept track of proceeds from bribes and extortion, particularly in drug and prostitution cases.

Between 1969 and 1972, $70 million worth of cocaine and heroin, some of is confiscated in the famous "French Connection," case disappeared from the property room at Police Headquarters. No one was ever charged in connection with the theft. 'Independent Entrepreneurs'

In the latest case, the accused officers were involved in drug transactions every few weeks and their profits ran into the tens of thousands of dollars, the law-enforcement officials in New York and Long Island said.

Two of the officers, Michael Dowd, 31 years old, of Port Jefferson, and Thomas Mascia, 29, of West Hempstead, were partners in the 94th Precinct. Two others, Philip F. Carlucci, 30, of Stony Brook, and Daniel R. Eurell, a cousin of the retired officer, were partners in the 73d Precinct.

Another of the officers accused in the cocaine ring, Kevin Hembery, 27, of Stony Brook, and Christopher M. Azrak, 26, who was accused in connection with steroids, were also assigned to the 73d precinct. Officer Azrak, the Police Department said, has been on long-term sick leave.

The investigators said that Dori J. Eurell, the 27-year-old wife of the retired officer, helped her husband with "phone messages to dealers, transferring information to him and the dealers."

Lee P. Brown, New York's Police Commissioner, who had assigned a dozen of his officers to join the investigation two months ago, said he was stunned by the arrests.

"I have never become immune to the shock I feel when those who are supposed to enforce the law become its violators," he said at the news conference. But he said he would reserve judgment until the officers had had their day in court.

All of the officers were suspended without pay. They were arraigned in Suffolk Country District Court in Hauppauge and those accused of involvement with cocaine were held on bail ranging from $100,000 to $350,000. Bond for the officer charged in connection with the steroids was set at $2,000. The two wives of the police officers were released on their own recognizance.

Investigators in Suffolk County said they stumbled on to the cocaine ring as a result of a routine undercover purchase of drugs from a small-time, 22-year-old dealer in Islip on a cold night in January. After learning that the dealer, identified as Harry J. Vahjen of 118 Farretson Avenue, had been taking orders for cocaine purchases over his telephone, they received court authorization to install a wiretap.

While listening in on Mr. Vahjen's conversations, the investigators said they heard indications that one of the young man's suppliers was Kenneth J. Eurell, a 31-year-old former officer who retired in 1989 with a three-quarters pay medical pension after an injury. That led to a wiretap on Mr. Eurell's phone.

"Then we find out he is dealing with other members who are active in the New York City Police Department," Mr. Ewald, the Suffolk Country assistant prosecutor, said. "We then tap the phones of the other police officers Eurell was dealing with."

At that point, officers from the New York Police Department's internal affairs section began shadowing the suspected officers.

From the wiretaps and the surveilance, the investigators surmised that the officers were buying about $3,500 worth of cocaine at a time from the bodegas, or about 4.5 ounces. This amount would fetch about $9,000 when broken down into the single gram units of white powder, which eventually sell for $70 to $80 each. The investigators say the officers were seen driving to the bodegas in their police cars and going inside, singly or together, and later heard them discussing the transactions. But for reasons that are not entirely clear they were never able to arrest the officers with the cocaine or in the process of buying it.

Chart: "Background: The Accused Officers" The six patrolmen and one former patrolmen charged yesterday with running a drug ring on Long Island. Charged/no conviction means the officer was charged internally, not in a court, and the charges were not proven. Awards for merit are considered better than awards for excellence. Commendation ranks lower than either. Thomas Mascia Age 29, of West Hempstead, LI. Appointed Jan. 21, 1985 94th Precinct Three awards for merit, four for excellence. Acquitted on March 21, 1990 with two other officers in the death of an emotionally disturbed person in January 1988. Michael Dowd Age 30, of Port Jefferson, L.I. 94th precinct Appointed Jan. 26, 1982 Three awards for excellence. Charges: Absent from assignment. (Penalized 3 vacation days.) Operating private vehicle in uniform; improper log entries. (8 vacation days.) Failed to comply with order of lieutenant. (10 vacation days.) Kevin Hembery Age 27, of Stony Brook, L.I. 73d precinct Appointed July 15, 1986 Seven for merit, six for excellence, Charges: On Sept. 18. 1989, slapped person without cause. On Sept. 13, 1990, failed to voucher property. (Penalized 15 vacation days.) Wrongfully handcuffed person and false disposition to dispatcher. (15 vacation days.). Daniel Eurell Age 26, of West Islip, LI. 73d precinct Appointed July 11, 1988 One award for merit, two for excellence. Charge: Shouted ethnic slur at a person. (10 vacation days.) Philip Carlucci Age 30, Stony Brook, L.I. 73d Precinct Appointed July 15, 1986 Two awards for merit, four for excellence. Charged/no conviction. His wife, Kris A. Carlucci, is charged in this case with conspiracy to buy cocaine. Kenneth Eurell Age 31, of North Babylon, L.I. 75th Precinct Appointed Jan. 1, 1981 Retired on disability in January 1989. No disciplinary record available. Cousin of Daniel Eurell, His wife, Dori J. Eurell, 27, was charged in this case with conspiracy to buy cocaine. Christopher M. Azrak Age 26, of Staten Island 73d Precinct Appointed July 5, 1989 Four awards for merit, 13 for excellence, one commendation. Charged in this case with conspiracy to possess and sell steroids.